The Wall Street Journal is reporting today that BlackBerry may be looking to break off BBM into its own company. According to sources, BBM Inc. could become a subsidiary of BlackBerry that would focus solely on BBM across BlackBerry, iOS and Android devices.

BBM has long been one of the top features of BlackBerry devices and in the coming months will finally be available for iOS and Android users as well. Much more than a simple instant messaging service, BBM already offers video and voice calls for BlackBerry users as well as screen sharing between BlackBerry 10 devices. BBM Channels was also introduced a few months ago in hopes to bring a bigger social aspect to the messaging service.

While there is still no official word on just when BBM will be available for other platforms, things should still be on track for a late-summer release as we've seen hints of some action already on multipleoccasions. It's reported that BlackBerry is also moving more personnel and execs over to the BBM team to expand the service's offerings for the future. We know that internally they have structured the BBM team as a standalone start-up of sorts within the company, complete with its own P&L, under the management of Andrew Bocking. Formerly Bocking was Executive VP of Software Product management, and his LinkedIn profile for the past three months has read EVP of BBM. Bocking has a legendary reputation within BlackBerry (he'll reply to an email at 3am within a minute), and is one of the best get it done guys they have on the team. Essentially, within the BlackBerry corporate structure, BBM Inc. is already there.

I fully agree and I really like the direction their taking it. Whether we know what the ultimate plan is or not, I like the fact that BlackBerry is actually behaving like a quarterback rather than on the defense. They're being innovative with their vision.

They also might be anticipating if BBM becomes such a huge success on the iOS and Android platform that it could lead to a potential buyer in buying the new division. Or maybe in a joint venture with the company. Whatever as long as they don't sell and remain still as BlackBerry :)

Think about BBRY. On the one hand it will be a crucial part of going private when BBRY goes down once solution like this one has been carried out. On the other hand it can end even with bankruptcy of BlackBerry. You don't let all the best to go outside when you do want to restore your business...

Perhaps but perhaps not too. Think of it like BBM becoming the next big socal platform designed for mobile from the beginning. It could be huge. And if it were to take off it would be the 1st mobile only social platform. Might be the next Facebook given time.

BBM and the Channels has nothing innovative that other social network dont have. They can only compete with Whatsapp but it wont develop further than an IM platform (including voice and video). I dont see any unique value proposition in a social network spin off out of BBM. But being a stockholder I hope I'm wrong.

I think the potential for BBM is off the charts enormous. We already know they have the capacity to create a BBM money as they already have it working in Indonesia, perhaps as a Beta before they bring it to the rest of the world. Now BBM is a free app for everyone, they can communicate, interact with brands through channels, and transfer money and make payments, through BlackBerrys first class security and private servers. All they have to do is charge a small fee for money transfers, and a fee for payments, as a credit card company, or PayPal would. All from one place, the BBM app. With unparalleled BlackBerry security. And it's cross platform so the number of users is limited only by the number of people with phones. If they do this right it could explode. That is a big if but let's keep our fingers crossed...

This is great if it happens. It will allow the BBM team to work independently from Blackberry and make business decisions that make sense to them. Example, they can bring BBM to Windows or partner up with Samsung. This will really grow their value and allow them to make more money.

To those who think that BlackBerry is just selling BBM: this is not the case. BBM Inc. Will be fully owned by Blackberry and all the profit will be BlackBerry's. It's just that BB management will have less control over BBM. Kinda how Instagram currently operates within Facebook. This is a big positive.

I think that had more to do with a BS "the Street " article about Samsung not being interested in buying BlackBerry. "Reporter," Do you want to buy BlackBerry? " Samsung, "At this time we have no plans to purchase BlackBerry as a company.". Reported,"Samsung has absolutely no interest in having anything to do with buying BlackBerry. What now BlackBerry? Not even your mother loves you any more! ". Or something like that.

Of course! MSFT paid 8 bil for Skype! Which sucks compared to bbm video.
Put bbm cross platform and available on desktops for use on any device or pc and what's the value?
At least 2-3 billion. Add in patents(2.3 bil, cash and actual business and this company is worth much more than the current valuation. Easily double the current price.
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It's actually the same reason why QNX is still on its own. You have to do the same with BBM because BBM is going to be on other platforms and hence have customers such as Google, Samsung, Apple, HTC, etc. will all be dealing with the folks at BBM. Not to mention the dealings that will come with BBM Channels. You can't have a situation where your customers are also your competition.

Were do you people get this info from? BlackBerry is going in one direction and that is UP. They are not being broken up, its all baseless rumours and speculation nonsense. BlackBerry's been gaining market share slow but steady. Windows Phone 8 has already failed in North America where as BlackBerry continues to grow its market and continues to secure 3rd place.

They need 18-24 months of strong marketing. They already have the best mobile platform in the world.

No it's a way to get its value recognized. They don't have to let all of it go. Maybe none of it. They just need to get hidden value to be fully valued. If they build it into an independent business unit then maybe they could sell 30% and retain the rest and when it's value grows they share in the value increase as do new shareholders of the spun out BBM Inc.

Or perhaps it's only the beginning of breaking the company apart into many subsidiaries, and selling some of them off. Or maybe a sign of trying to keep BBM alive if the rest goes down the tubes. There are a lot of possible reasons, but every one I can think of seems like a bad sign for BB.

I really can't put my finger on why, but this leaves a bad taste in my mouth...

Not necessarily. BBM as its own division or subsidiary helps keep it competitive and reduces confusion over how much things cost resource-wise and how much revenue they bring in. I'd love to see more companies reorganize around product or service offerings, so that costs aren't being hidden and it's easier for everyone to tell who is succeeding and who is failing. BBM, if successful, should be able to fees it's own further success rather than divert its resources back into BlackBerry as a whole to subsidize less promising projects. Also, if BBM doesn't perform up to expectations, this should be immediately clear to all from BBM P&L and not require a massive accounting project to see all the ins and outs.

That is not true. A Lot of companies operate in this way, where their subsidiaries are given more independence. It is usually great for the subsidiary, because it allows them more freedom to be creative, but they get the marketing power and contacts of a bigger company. This is especially important for tech companies. . BlackBerry will still own 100% of BBM.This is how Instagram operates within Facebook and how Skype operates within Microsoft.

Yes, this IS what they need to do! Create a social network with all the benefits of BBM +++ as new services are added. They could conceivably roll it out at some point as a separate publicly traded company and still keep a controlling stake but take in cash to re capitalize and focus investments in the EMM, MDM and M2M markets.

Totally agree.. not only that but it will keep the team focused and innovative within a closed bubble of functionality dedicated to messaging.. this will definitely scare off competition like Viber, Skype, and Whatsapp...

I believe that BlackBerry has to start thinking outside the box and this is definitely a good step forward.

LOL , you guys are delusional. " this will definitely scare off competition like Viber, Skype, and Whatsapp... "
Are you suggesting the competition are going to be scared off ? LMAO . Dude, please.
Viber,skype,Whatsapp, will not even feel it. Lets be honest they are already established and not dependent or counting on BB users anyway. To say they will be scared off is just silly.

AND, that is precisely why BlackBerry execs must SHUT UP about feeding speculations! BlackBerry fails to understand the impact all of this uncertainty is doing to their customers and potential customers. Uncertainty will definitely kill the company, more than anything else can.

I figured this out when they announced going cross platform with BBM and the introduction of BBM channels. I think it is a very valuable asset and it could be the future of Social Media. Sometimes the value of parts is more than the whole. Therefore creating a subsidiary for BBM could help BlackBerry unlock the value of BBM

It depends on what the email is about and also who's sending it: if the email is in regards to an outage or other critical issue that falls under your care it is a good thing. Also, what if the sender of the email is in another country or time zone? I've had to sit in on conference calls where the main meeting was being held in Europe where 9.00 for them was 3.00 for me: could be the same thing.

I'd think that those 3 AM emails getting those kinds of responses were flagged as critical emails anyway.

But, still, you'd hope the company would have someone else who could put out fires while the guy is sleeping. Kind of seems like bad organization if there's only one guy charged with handling an outage.

Stretching much? Welcome to the real world where things sometimes happen outside of regular business hours. Having an employee that is dedicated enough to care band react is a strength. Having a reputation as being that guy will get you everywhere. People with a 'it's not my job' attitude are expendable.

I know right ? Like wtf is that ? So the guy answers his text at 3am in the morning , so what ?
Charlie Sheen has been doing that for ages , and on a HIGH no less.
No TEXT is that important that he HAS to respond right there and then , I mean GET REAL. Can you imaging Bill Gates getting an email at 3am and saying , " Oh I have to reply to this RIGHT NOW! " LMAO
Unless there is a REAL emergency like a death or hospitalization , then it is retarded.

Mr Boking will spend a lot of grey cells figuring out a revenue model. Other than Channels, there isn't any cash flow opportunity there. Selling ads in Channels and reserving names for sale to companies are about the only options I see right now. I hope they have some ideas about how to monetize BBM.

There are tons of ways to make money off of BBM. If the platform takes off, and adoption skyrockets, you could potentially be looking at a huge cash cow. Things like EFT services (a'la BBM money, albeit with a proper engine behind it), gradually transforming it into an electronic mail box platform - potentially with a partnership with USPS, Canada Post (yes I know they have ePost) and Royal Mail, no to mention all of the potential Social Media related opportunities. There were a lot of smart people who were skeptical about Facebook becoming a money-press as well. It all truly depends on adoption, and that will depend on Blackberry putting some serious effort into making it an awesome experience for everyone, regardless of platform.

From a financial statement perspective, it shouldn't make a difference as they have to report their earnings on a consolidated basis.

From a business operational perspective, this might be a good idea as they can focus on their individual priorities and may lead to bbm being easier to evaluate, and generate it's own valuation, potentially comparable to what's app.

I would like to know the real pros and cons. But for me it seems the effort to break up BlackBerry continues. Heins continues to put for sale signs everywhere. He has done it for the past year and this continues to scare consumers away. No one wants to buy a phone that they might have to replace or will not be updated. I can only hope the company is privatised by a visionary and BlackBerry hangs in. I like my z10. I like BBM. To me they go together and should not be separated. Change strategy and soon.

separating them doesn't mean your Z10 will not have BBM any more !
its good for the company and for BBM it self, now there are hundreds of massaging apps out there its not BBM alone and they have to move quickly and be creative.

Yes, eventually this is what will happen. People refuse to look at it from a $ MONEY perspective.
The people in control of BB right now are just looking at 1 ( one ) thing.
How to best get back every dollar or investment to the shareholders/owners .
Selling off BB is the best way and this is what will/is going to happen.

Great idea. Putting different aspects of the company in their own companies can help people to see the value of what they have. QNX is not only the basis for BB10 but also car entertainment systems. Keeping it separate allows them to develop without being subsumed by the executive that shouts loudest.

If bbm is going to be as big as they have shown, this is a great move. For ex. On the music production side, FL studio created FL mobile for iOS, which is managed by another company but the earnings are still within the FL studio brand. This could be another example of divide and conquer, making the brand stronger micromanaging operations. I really doubt that if a company like nokia, which is surviving basically on doing windows phones can stay afloat, blackberry will fail knowing they can always fall back on whatever QNX project they can join.

As a BB stock holder, I hope that BB management has a workable plan to develop a strong profit base.
A product without hardware may be a better match then confiding BBM to BB phones.
Will BB shareholders get BBM shares or a buy-back? Likely shares, since BB would not want to give up their cash position.

There is also good news that BBM is coming to Galaxy - hopefully slamming Apple products.
Also, there is good news BBM is coming to desktops.

And, what of BB phone owners with paid contracts, do we get 'ad free' BBM?

Why do I have a dejavu feeling. Just like bb10 we expected it to take off. It did not.
We are assuming bbm will take off. Not quite sure. BlackBerry disappoints alot. You guys might want to relax with all the excitement.

Whether it works or not I do not know. To me it screams of a company scrambling. BB10, although a nice OS, has not appealed to the masses. BBM going cross platform is something that might. So let the old "RIM' become BBM, and try and sell the OS and hardware sides off. This would make me a sad little camper.

BBM + Channels Inc. with LED Notifications on every communications device including laptops and home computers. Not limited to 140 characters. This could be a huge social, news, marketing tool. Amber alerts to golf scores in real time. As much content or as little as you want. Some big companies might pay to have their channel prominent or charge for exclusive content.

Asking not saying - does this mean that BBM then is just another Dev company. As they go forward with possible innovations do they look at iOS and Android first as most other Dev teams do, as that's where the money is?

Is it possible at some point in time that BBM on another platform has a feature or innovation that BlackBerry does not?

Think about it. If BBM does well and can exist as a seperate Company and make money , do you really think it can continue to make profits while trying to keep BB hardware on life support ?
No. BBM as a self sustaining Business would be fine but not to support the HW division of BB.
Don't forget , they are trying to Sell and make a profit.

It makes absolute strategic sense. Running a cross-platform app should think and behave as its own division separate from the manufacturer. BBM's clients will include BlackBerry's competition (many of whom were former BlackBerry users) who want access to a premium messenger. BBM has to be able to work within that new reality and develop for that new user base without conflict from its parent company. All will benefit from this including us BlackBerry supporters. Competition breeds better products and user experience.

I could see them splitting it up in order to allow another company/companies (Samsung?) to buy a partial stake in BBM. I don't see it as a negative at all, nor would it be a death knell. On the contrary, giving the big guys a vested interest in your survival could be a very large positive. Microsoft invested in Apple in the 1990s and that seemed to work out quite well for both companies.

Nonsense or not this is the FUTURE, get used to it. BB as a whole can not survive and BBM is better off on its own. As a separate Company they can at least become profitable for them selves. Catering to all the Other Platforms is the way to GO.

Hypothetical scenario: BlackBerry is partitioning its subsidiary companies (QNX, BBM Inc and whatever they choose to call BES 10) in order to better leverage their individual strengths within their respective market segments (M2M, Social/Media Networking & Secure Data Management). BlackBerry then amalgamates those services into the improved, stable BB10 OS which runs on phones, tablets, laptops and desktops, creating the Mobile Computing dream. Like I said at the beginning of the post, a hypothetical scenario.

Really good move for blackberry ltd. ,BBM cross platform with a enhanced user experience on BB devices , a move that others do or want to do (first starts as software/social nets co. when grow big,they need to looking for handsets companys for deep integration..) only that BB do it in a reverse way .. The ideally way

If BlackBerry got something in return for bbm. I don't see how this will sell devices. BlackBerry has barely and good apps to grab the consumer and now ios and android have bbm. Good for me cuz I'll have more bbm friends but bad for BlackBerry.

Highly unlikely. No one would buy if that were the case. you have to think for a moment. The Idea of selling off BB in pieces is to maximize profit in the individual parts. BB will not exist as whole like it is now.
BBM will become it's own Company with new Owners.

No, it doesn't need to be sold off at all. It could be a functional reorganization to drive greater development efficiencies along a certain line, in this case creating a new social network that has unique capabilities and services available. It COULD be spun out eventually in whole or in part as a company with its own shares but that does not happen quickly. Value needs to be built first.

Exactly it has to do with the finances and accounting, they are expecting bbm to be successful. The company I work for has 4 different companies under it but we're still all part of one big company. It's all broken down because of accounting

Ask yourself: Does it make sense to spin BBM out for a one time gain when the upside from monetization is ongoing? ....It is just media speculation in an attempt to solicit a response from Blackberry. BBM is integral to enterprise communications and there are HUGE opportunities to monetize BBM on the consumer side-no way it will be spun out.

I've got this feeling like this is an attempt at leveraging certain company assets by breaking them all up, and in the case of BBM, a big peace hacked off the handset division. Depressing. Nobody makes a qwerty worth a crap either.

It will only be a "subsidiary" of BlackBerry, meaning BlackBerry is still the parent company. So whats all the hoopla? At the end of the day the only change is that the new "BBM Inc" will be autonomous (operationally) but BlackBerry will still consolidate its P&L just like they do now with QNX and probably TAT (if its also being run as subsidiary). Another good example is how NBC owns MSNBC but both have different programming or as indicated earlier on this forum, Facebook & Instagram.

? What ?
In case you have not heard.
BB is in DIRE need of Cash Money. They are not making money currently and if they are not making money they are losing or bleeding money.
If the WERE making money then no News of any sort would be coming from BB and they would be operating normally as any other Company.
Making BBM a subsidiary BB is nothing new and would not bring in the kind of CASH the Board is looking for.

I'm afraid you are not making sense. Please answer this simple question, is BlackBerry broke or seeking bankruptcy? You say "They are not making money currently and if they are not making they are losing or bleeding money" and my question to you is, how do you think BlackBerry will remedy this problem?
To remedy the problem BlackBerry has to approach it two ways, a) find ways to generate more revenues and b) find ways to cut costs. By doing either or both BlackBerry will effectively improve the bottom line (Net Profit Before Taxes) of their Income Statement.
So I guess you may be wondering what I am talking about; what I'm saying is that by spinning off BBM as a separate entity, the new company's objective will be to find ways to generate revenues (this based on assumption that the BBM cross platform is very successful) and remain viable; it has to earn its keep to survive. If "BBM Inc" is profitable then overall Asset Valuation of the parent company "BlackBerry" increases too. Also by spinning off BBM, BlackBerry may be able to eliminate some redundancies and wastes OR utilize the Overhead Costs more effectively and efficiently.
BlackBerry has no choice but to restructure or find strategic alternatives right now in order to remain viable and successful. It has to find new ways to generate revenue and or increase its economies of scale..
Finally, You or I can't not authoritatively project the future of BBM (unless you know something that we are not privy to), so please don't tell me that BBM "would not bring in the kind of CASH the Board is looking for". :) or do you know what the Board is looking for? Lets base this discussion on facts only. All we are doing on this forum is speculation.
By the way, companies do "spin-offs" for different reasons all the time.

You need to see the writing on the wall . Its been there for quiet some time now. BB has not achieved the sales and numbers it expected with it's Z10 and more importantly Q10/Q5.
Sales are a trickle at best. The board along with TH know this and decided they better move now to take some action to salvage whatever the can with BB because the numbers are not there.
Seriously , you can not be thinking that All is good by now can you ? SALES are not happening.
Walk into a Bestbuy or any other Carrier and ask them how many BB are sold. I do. just the other I was at the Source and they had a section of just BB Phones along with the new Q10 and Q5. How are the sales of BB phones going? Next to nothing.
But hey , believe whatever you want. It funny though that you seem to think that they are not bleeding money and yet they continue to let go of thousands of people. In the end you will not be able to ignore it as like it or not BB will not exist on its current form. It simply is not making it on smartphone front.

Which make money more BBM or BlackBerry smartphone device? Think about this. How many businesses people buy BlackBerry smartphone compare to regular people? Look deeper than ever before. I'm really confused why people think BBM cross platform will make BlackBerry reclaim it title of top 3 mobile phone. Could BBM bring it back if people using other devices? How their counting what make it to be top 1, 2 ,3 ? Hipotesis : more people buy BlackBerry device more money they can make and more popular demand. If people just use BBM than buy other brands how could they make money on device and what about employees and factory operation? I'm really confused about this.

I'm no expert but I think blackberry saw there were countless people going out to buy a phone and never even considering buying a blackberry. They were lost custom who had mostly Android or IOS in mind. When BBM goes cross platform and people on other platforms start using it their views on BlackBerry might change, look how awesome BBM is already and it still has lots of potential to grow .
Through using BBM daily users of other platforms might start seeing BlackBerry differently, leaving the stigma behind them.
Next time they are looking for a phone they might just take notice of the shiny new Z30 on display.

I believe this move is known as a defensive strategy to ward off potential sale of the company, separating the "crown jewel" from the company would deter potential buyers from being interested in buying "blackberry"

So BB wants to ward OFF potential buyers from buying the Company ?
So wait ? BB has stated that a possible sale of or sales BB and or Divisions are very possible and that no Offer or speculation is on the cards BUT ! according to you they want to make it the least attractive as possible so no one wants to BUY . ?
Hate to be bad guy BUT , if anything BB wants to make it's self MORE appealing Not Less .

That holds true only if they actually want to sell. Maybe their whole intention of setting up a special committee was to land a licensing deal, and they didn't realize it would snowball into this "sale of the company idea". I'm not saying I'm 100% accurate. But according to my corporate law textbooks, this is a defense tactic that is used to dispel interest from potential buyer or to prevent a hostile takeover.

I don't think we are talking about BBM not being potentially profitable,in fact I'd say most experts would say it would be, how much? is to be seen. I doubt ( at least for a year or 2 ) it would not be as popular as Skype or the rest but for sure it would be profitable and make or whomever
Now on the OTHER hand BB Hardware ( the Actually Phones ) are a lost cause and bleeding money like crazy. BB is NOT making $$ on selling it's hardware ( phones) That is a Whole other issue.

Its amazing how dumb people on the internet are getting. In the forums if you said something like that about the competition you'd get called out by the 'minformation police', although they seem to have disbanded and now act like you are. Just spewing hate and nonsense. Get over yourself and be happy with whatever droid/iphone/random phone you have. All you are proving here is how clueless you are.

I'm sorry but I think your wrong here buddy. The stats have shown that the mark up on the device IS making money, the fact that they are losing money is because they aren't selling enough devices to cover their operating costs. If a company made a product that cost more to make than they actually sell it for... im not even going to finish that sentence, because that's just dumb, and that's what your post is saying is happening.

BBM restructured as a stand alone, but fully owned subsidiary of Blackberry? Doesn't make sense as I don't see any cost benefits from doing so. Does the future look so bleak that management is indeed going to sell the company? Is this being done so the buyer of Blackberry in a "go private" transaction can easily sell off and liquidate various parts of the company?

Seems to me someone will be getting a great deal to purchase BBM alone at a rock bottom price. Maybe investors see its potential and will purchase BBM Inc, will hold, and sell at a later time. Nice to be them.

BBM Inc this is great !!!
If I am JIC999 Mobile Inc and need the best messenger for my mobile consumer and / or Enterprise offering with different services eg. BBM Money , Voice , BBm Channels etc.. I call BBM Inc and purchase the different product offerings of BBM. So welcome Lenovo, HTC , Nokia etc...

I see it cuts both ways. If BBM is separated to be more competitive but with no plans to sell or as a defensive strategy in the event that the shareholders force a sale due to slow recovery, then it might be a good thing. But if BBM is separated for the intention to sell in the near future then BlackBerry is headed the way of Palm.

Well all good technology cannot survive, only inferior ones with good marketing can & they will make huge profits too.

Lol. That would be just like Google pushing a new Android runtime to BlackBerry users first. If BBM is still part of BlackBerry, don't think you'd see ios or Android getting anything first. Possibly at the same time, but not first imo.

Just my two cents. I think this is a good strategy by BlackBerry. It doesn't mean they're looking to split and sell off. Look at Verizon and Verizon wireless. Two separate entity's, but still part of ONE corporation. Each has its own separate accounting, ceo, vp, etc, but still under the same overall company. So I say good call BlackBerry. Think about it. QNX is its own entity but still under BlackBerry. BBM it's own entity, still under BlackBerry. Also think of Microsoft. Xbox, pc software, games, email, etc. They all fall under ONE corporation, but all separate divisions under the parent company. To all the people saying that they're going to sell everything off etc, etc , if other companies are successful with this model, why can't BlackBerry! Again, this is just my opinion but it is valid.

Spin off BBM Inc. Issue 515M BBM shares, 1 BBM share for 1 BBRY share. Distribute BBM share to BBRY shareholders. This is equivalent to a special dividend in share but not in cash.

Now, here is the brilliant part. Shorts have created 156M extra BBRY shares. And who knows how many shares naked shorts created? How are they going to pay this special dividend? How are they going to create 156M BBM shares to distribute to the buyers of their shares?

Hence, a clever short squeeze! Of course, this is just the unintentional consequence.

GREAT NEWS. There is a virtually limitless upside to BBM Inc. Combining BlackBerry Messenger, BBVideo, & BBMoney securely and without limits across platforms is a world beater. Trust one and you will trust in all. That is the value proposition.

Sk8er_tor and Killington had it right hours ago. Competing with your customers is impossible. The customers won't allow it.

By separating BBM Inc. from BlackBerry it is possible to have a firewall (business necessity) to successfully go cross platform with all that BBM promises.

ALL sources of income will benefit BlackBerry. I am really chuffed by this news.

BBM is still going to be the best regardless of what you put it as. Haters gonna hate, I just tell them to stuff a sausage in it and move on. Bashing a platfom doesn't make any difference what so ever. Just move the heck on. I hope blackberry keeps bbm as it's own and doesn't make it a separate company at all. I hope wall street is wrong. Oh and bbm is NOT A DAMN FLOP.

I guess I am a little confused about what spinning off part of your company means. If I understand it correctly BBM will be able to operate independently from Blackberry but will they also be making money for Blackberry? If BBM is spun off, does great cool things will Blackberrys stock go up? Will Blackberry make money?

I guess I don't understand how you spin something off into your own company or how you give more independence while maintaining control.

Can someone with more business sense clear this up for me? If this were to happen would we have Blackberry company minus the BBM department or Blackberry working in collaboration with this new company called BBM... ????

In any case the X-platform BBM will not work with BB devices - because of the devices being tied to pins and what not - just reading this on different forums since the past few days. So IF x-platform BBM is coming out within this decade - then it all makes sense. Raise money by spinning it off - don't let current BB hardware owners have any access to X-platform BBM as they will stop making hardware in the near future, etc. etc.

Lol. READ the posts. As I've already said it makes perfect BUSINESS SENSE! Did Microsoft sell Xbox? No! It's a SEPERATE division UNDER Microsoft. Enough said. It makes logical sense to 'spin off' a division of BlackBerry to create a level playing field (if you like) of messaging. I personally love my Z10, but it could be better. Who's to say maybe they want to stop MAKING handhelds and maybe focus on their software products? BBM is a killer app. BB10 is a great os. QNX is coming to a lot of cars and car infotainment systems. Then you have BES10. Separate divisions, you bet your ass. That is definitely the way to go! Build what you know and build on what matters.

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